Here's what he said on Fox, that (finally) got him fired from NPR:
"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous." ~Juan Williams, on the O'Rielly Factor
Now... I'm not a big...... fan of saying that if you start a paragraph out that way, then that means you probably ARE. You can absolutely start a paragraph out that way, and NOT be a bigot. But if you do start out a paragraph out that way, you probably shouldn't spend the REST of that paragraph proving yourself wrong.
Allow me to translate what he said from Conservative Black Man to ENGLISH:
I'm not a bigot. I'm just going to use derogatory stereotypes to explain why I don't like certain people!Doesn't that make a lot more sense? And you gotta love that bit about not being a bigot because he's written books about the civil rights era. Translation:
I'm not a biggot. I love black people!
That would carry a little more weight if.... HE WASN'T BLACK! By that logic, I can't be a bigot, simply because I don't hate WHITE PEOPLE! And to think... this same crowd actually called Sonya Sotomayor a racist for not hating Latinas!
Oh and uh... Note to Juan: The actual terrorists don't come riding in on camels, waving scimitars and smoking hookah's while they stroke their long beards with fingers covered in bejeweled rings. They look like US. They BLEND IN! That's how they got past security in first place: Nothing unusual about them! That guy you're talking about? Even the TSA let him go, because they know that no terrorist would be stupid enough to get on a plane wearing something "identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims."
He's not only a bigot, but he's incredibly stupid to boot. It's about time NPR dropped this clown.
Speaking of NPR... (shift gears)
Great story today detailing how the Conservatives over in England are about to tank their entire economy.
(No that's not how they said it! But that's pretty much the inevitable result, you wait and see!)
My favorite part (not included in the link) was the idea that after they shed something like 500,000 public sector jobs, they expect the private sector to pick up the slack.
Yep, the Conservatives over there are pretty much as stupid as they are here, folks.
Why he hell would any company hire ANYONE when there are soon to be about half a million more people who are going to be NOT BUYING ANYTHING?! Demand is about to TANK. Who the heck do they think will be hiring?!
Morons.
Speaking of which...
HRM Queen Elizabeth II has decided that since the economy is so weak, that she shouldn't have her elaborate Christmas Parties and Holiday Balls this year. You know... It just wouldn't be right to have all that elaborate celebrating and spending all that money when so many people are struggling.
(You, uh... see where I'm going with this, right?)
I just wonder how thankful the caterers, tailors, limo drivers, dressmakers, porters, cabbies, not to mention all the restaurants and other London attractions will be , knowling that all that money they the usually make of those kinds of fancy occasions will be denied them this year, on top of an already tough economy.
You know... because the economy's bad, it just wouldn't be right, to...
I don't know...
HELP OUT, I guess.
THANKS A LOT, YOUR ROYAL CHEAPSKATE!
They suck all over the world, folks.
(okie: I got one more and I'll answer your email, K?)
I don't like Williams. He's one of the "mainstream" media's many phony "liberals," which is to say he's a conservative who is, on a daily basis, pawned off as a liberal and matched up against some reactionary bomb-thrower in what passes for a "debate" on those shows. He used to be the only sort of "liberal" allowed on such programs. He has willingly participated in that charade for literally decades, so, while things have improved and liberals are sometimes allowed on such shows now, it doesn't make me like him any more.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about firing him, though. Context is important, obviously. If Williams said this sort of thing just to suck up to O'Reilly and the usual Fox crowd, then to hell with him, but from what you've quoted, it sounds like it could be a case of someone struggling with a personal prejudice he seems to realize is wrong. If that's the case, that's something that should be discussed, and that discussion never discouraged. Of course, there isn't going to be any sort of reasoned discussion of such a thing on O'Reilly, so it's probably just a case of sucking up.
Yeah, I hear you as far as the context goes. And you're right. Shoot, I've had posts like THAT, here. But you're also dead-on in saying that the O'Rielly Factor is not exactly the best forum to on which to be working out those kinds of issues. If he didn't have a long history of being the token liberal, while constantly arguing from the conservtaive perspectve, [IOW: If he didn't constantly embarass NPR by being Fox's Stooge,] I probably would have considered calling shenanigans on it. Because this isn't REALLY any better a reason to fire him that so many other things that NPR has given him a pass on, it'll just play play better in the media. Of course... the story will be "PC Polics strike again" but I don't really care at this point. NPR can't do quality, objective reporting in the middle east if they endorse this kind of a message. And he didn't really go further, and acknowledge that he knows those kinds of feelings are WRONG. Which would have gone a long way towards establishing that context. So... Good riddance.
ReplyDeleteThis is highly relevant, and very important. Apparently right-wingers such as Palin have called on Congress to reduce funding for NPR over this little situation. Basically the whole right-wing scene is throwing a hissy fit that people are angry that FOX allows bigoted idiots to say whatever they want on their network.
ReplyDeleteHere's a petition urging Congress not to cave to the stupidity of the right, and to keep funding for NPR where it is. NPR is one of the last bastions of unbiased, fair news, and true reporting skills. I hope everyone that reads this will sign. Maybe you could even repost it, Eddie!
http://www.credoaction.com/campaign/stand_up_for_npr/?rc=homepage
Here's a link to what I thought was a great diary on DailyKos about economic issues. It discusses spending and the effect of spending and saving on our economy. I think it's the kind of argument that will shoot RightON out of the water any day.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/10/22/912528/-My-response-to-my-affluent-Republican-brother...
That's a great link DellDolly, but like many posters on that site pointed out, too long. The 'leadership' and movers-and-shakers (read: media spin doctors) for what passes as the Repubs have perfected the 'bumper-sticker' debate form - tailored for today's infotainment consumer, who has the attention-span of a goldfish. If a point can't be made in a 15 sec. spot, with waving flags and patriotic music, you've lost some of your audience.
ReplyDeleteOf course, if that tactic fails, you can always fall-back to the 'fling poo at your opponent' strategy - what have ya got to lose?
okiepoli
@Metal Matt - DONE. And yes, definitely let me know if you come across anything else like that.
ReplyDelete@Dolly & okie - That IS a great link, but yeah, sadly if you can't put it on a bumper sticker, or into a 5-second sound-bite it just won't travel very well.
For me it comes down to this: What will have more impact on the economy: $1000 to someone who would otherwise have nothing, or an extra $10 Grand to a Multi-Millionaire. Which one is going to change their purchasing decision more, and thus have a greater benefit for other people and the buisinesses around them? The rich dude? Socks it away. That's his right, he can do what he wants with his money, but the economy ain't gonna benefit from that. At at the end of the day? What's better for the economy is every bit as godd for that rich guy, and his stock portfolio anyway. (The difference is, the rich guy just can't stand the fact that someone else might have a little bit more for THEMselves at teh same time.) Now... if you can find a way to fit [Keynsian Economics] onto a bumper sticker?
Shoot, that would solve half the world's problems all by itself.
Thanks for all of your comments.